That One Time
by Shasta627
Summary: Gaius once again must come up with an excuse to cover for Merlin's absence, but instead of using the same old tavern excuse, he comes up with something different, which ultimately leads to Arthur's discovery of that one time Gwen and Merlin kissed. Let's just say he is not too pleased. (One-shot. Gwen x Arthur.)


_**A/N: This story just popped into my head as I was rewatching the first season again, and I loved the idea of Arthur finding out about Gwen's short-lived infatuation with Merlin, so I had to write it :) Anyway, hope you enjoy it! Please review if you feel so inclined :)**_

For Gaius, it had been a peaceful morning; something he hadn't had in a long time.

Merlin had left earlier, saying something about having to meet someone important and asking for Gaius to cover for him. Gaius had let him leave, reminding him to not forget the other chores and duties he had to do for Arthur as well, and after he had left there had not been a single interruption all morning. Gaius had managed to organize his elixirs, dust the bookshelves, and make three new headache concoctions before the silence was broken by a loud knock on his door. He opened it and was greeted by no other than Prince Arthur himself.

"Good morning, Sire," Gaius immediately greeted. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"Yes, there actually is," Arthur responded. "Tell me, do you know where Merlin is? I've been searching all morning, and this little game of hide-and-seek is growing tiring."

Gaius inwardly sighed. Leave it up to him to come up with all the excuses. But as he opened his mouth to reply to Arthur, ' _He's in the tavern again,_ ' he remembered what Merlin had asked a while ago about not using that excuse anymore. He thought quickly and ended up saying, "He went for a walk."

Arthur looked very unimpressed. "A walk?" he repeated dully. "Why isn't he back then? Did he get lost within the walls of Camelot?" A few seconds later Arthur seemed to have answered his own question and concluded, "I guess I wouldn't be surprised if he actually did."

Gaius, knowing that Arthur didn't think highly of Merlin's intelligence, felt the need to preserve a least _some_ of his ward's dignity, and said, "He wasn't alone though. He went to take a walk with a young lady, whom he claimed to be a friend. Probably on his way back by now." It wasn't the best excuse Gaius had ever come up with, but at least he could tell Merlin it wasn't the same tavern one again.

Arthur, however, looked dumbstruck as this 'information.' "He's with a _girl_?" he asked with an air of incredibility, as though he had never thought such a thing possible. "What has the world come to?" he then mumbled to himself, rubbing a hand down his face. He continued to stand there in silent contemplation before asking, "Who was this girl, Gaius? I wish to know."

Gaius could only shrug. "I've not a clue, Sire. I did not ask."

Arthur nodded. "I see...," he trailed off again, staring at some spot over Gaius's shoulder. Gaius cleared his throat. "Can I do anything else for you, Sire?"

"No. Thank you, though. And if Merlin returns, tell him to report to my quarter's immediately. I have jobs for him to do today."

"Of course," Gaius nodded, and then Arthur left, mumbling things about 'idiotic manservants' and 'never where they're supposed to be' as he did so.

Gaius could only sigh. There went his peaceful morning...

«»

Prince Arthur Pendragon strode through the castle, walking aimlessly without a destination in mind, for he was too preoccupied with the conversation he had just had with Gaius. For some reason the thought of Merlin being with a girl just seemed so odd, it was almost surreal, and Arthur needed the time to think of what to say when he would later interrogate Merlin about this special 'friend' he was with.

As he wandered about, his feet eventually led him to the servants hall, where he found the lovely Guinevere standing by a window, looking out to the streets of Camelot below them. Just the sight of her caught Arthur in a trance, and he could've stood there and stared all day had she not sensed his presence and turned to face him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you were standing there," she immediately said, though she looked pleased to see him.

Arthur shook his head. "There's no reason to apologize. I was simply just...admiring the beauty this hallway beholds."

"Ah, yes. That tapestry on the wall really is quite beautiful, isn't it?" Gwen responded in a teasing tone.

Arthur simply rolled his eyes. "I was actually referring to another beauty, but since you think yourself so clever I'm sure you can figure it out eventually." He walked over to the spot where Gwen had been standing and stared out the window in the same fashion in which she had.

Apparently Gwen was much better at reading him than he thought, for only a few seconds later Arthur felt a gentle hand on his arm, and her soft voice asking him, "What has you so troubled this morning?"

Arthur tried to shrug off the question. "It is nothing too serious, you needn't worry."

Gwen was silent for a moment before responding, "It's Merlin, isn't it?"

Arthur wasn't sure whether to laugh or be amazed. She could practically read him like an open book! But when he didn't respond right away, Gwen seemed to take his silence as a 'yes.'

"If he's gone missing, I wouldn't be too worried; he often disappears without reason from time to time. It's just his personality."

"Oh, I know where he is," Arthur responded, a slight annoyance present in his tone. "It's just who he's with is what troubles me."

Gwen looked puzzled, but before she could ask what company Merlin was undertaking, Arthur told her, "He's with a girl."

Gwen merely stared at the Prince for a moment before letting a small giggle escape her lips. "And why, may I ask, is this upsetting you?"

Arthur frowned. When said out loud, it sounded silly and dumb, but it was hard to explain his feelings about the matter. "Well - because - he - I don't know this girl," he finally managed to splutter.

"So Merlin cannot see any girl that you have not approved of?" Gwen asked, a large smirk growing on her face. She was having too much amusement at Arthur's expense. "You never used to care about the girls interested in him before."

Arthur opened his mouth to respond, then froze, pondering before saying, "This has happened before?"

Much to his confusement, Gwen suddenly seemed to freeze, her face discoloring slightly, as though his question caused her to blush. "Uh, well, when Merlin first came to Camelot, he spent a lot of time with some girls, and some of them were...interested in him, but you didn't care then."

"But I didn't _know_ him then, Guinevere. It didn't matter." Arthur looked out the window again before suddenly asking, "Just for conversations sake, who _were_ the girls interested in _Mer_ lin, of all people?"

When Gwen didn't answer, he turned his head to face her only to see that she was looking anywhere but him.

"Is everything alright, Guinevere?"

Gwen quickly nodded, "Yes, of course. I - I was just thinking. Uh, a few of the servant girls liked Merlin, but not anymore."

"You know all the servant girls - tell me, who was it? I promise I'll never tell," Arthur smirked, completely oblivious to the inner turmoil he was causing in Gwen.

"I'd rather not say..." Gwen said, but after relentless urging from Arthur, it was almost as though she snapped and finally admitted, "It was me! _I_ liked Merlin - are you happy now, Arthur?"

Arthur merely stared at her as though she had lost all common sense, and then laughed. Once he noticed she was not joining in though, his face fell and he said, "Wait, you were being serious?"

"You're the one who wanted to know so bad," she responded rather sourly.

"You mean _Merlin_ , my servant? The one who never remembers anything? The one who's always tripping on things and breaking stuff? The one who's never on time and a-"

"Yes, yes, the _same_ Merlin. How many others do you know?!" Gwen interrupted him. "And you know he's really not that bad! He has many good and appealing qualities too. He's loyal to _you_ , for one, and he's very kind and always does the right thing, and when I first met him he was just so different from everyone else, he seemed special in some sort of way," Gwen defended.

Arthur stood in stunned silence, thoughts spinning through his mind. Gwen and Merlin? When had this happened? Now that he thought about it though, he remembered that back in the early months when Merlin had started working for him, there was that one case where Gwen had been accused of sorcery, and he had believed that Merlin was in love with Gwen when he tried to take her place by pretending to be a sorcerer. He had thought that Merlin had liked Gwen at the time, but he never thought that Gwen had actually _returned_ his feelings. Did anything happen between them? Just the thought of Gwen and Merlin together... Arthur couldn't even picture it, yet it still made him feel put out and jealous, even though he knew there was nothing for him to worry about anymore.

 _Just stay calm and collected_ , Arthur instructed himself, but he couldn't quite stunt the desire to find out what really happened between Gwen and his servant, so he decided to try and slyly uncover the truth.

"So you liked Merlin, huh?" Arthur clarified a few seconds later.

"Yes, but not anymore - obviously," she told him.

"I see. So...what possessed you to... _fancy_ him, exactly?"

"Nothing _possessed_ me," exclaimed Gwen. "Like I said, he was just different from everyone else, and he caught my attention."

"Alright, then what provided you with the common sense as to _not_ fancy him anymore?"

Gwen gave him a nasty glare, but once seeing that Arthur wouldn't be able to let the subject go without an explanation, she quickly began to speak. "Well, I first met him when he was in the stocks and he was really nice and then I saw him again later with Gaius and realized he was staying with him and so I began to talk to him more often and we became friends rather quickly and throughout the next few weeks I felt as though I got to know him better and saw how he always tried to help others and do what was right and I really admired that and afterwards I started to like him a lot more but after a while I got the feeling that my intentions weren't quite returned after I realized how he never really saw me as more than a good friend and how he was always staring at other beautiful girls and I finally figured that he never really felt the same way for me after he barely even acknowledged our kiss after it happened and-"

Arthur, who had been trying to listen with rapt attention to Gwen's rapid ramble, nearly exploded at her last few words. " _WHAT_?! You - you _snogged_ Merlin?!"

Gwen seemed to realize just a few seconds too late of what she had let slip to the jealous Prince, but despite the fierce blush darkening her face she reprimanded him by saying, "Oh really, Arthur, stop being so immature. It was only a kiss! It's not like you've never kissed any other girls before."

Arthur gave a frustrated sigh. He knew it was true, but he would have gladly taken all those kisses back if it meant he received them from Gwen instead. He turned to look at Gwen, who was still staring indignantly at him, and he apologized. "Sorry, it's just - to know that _Merlin_ kissed you -"

"Actually," Gwen interrupted, "I was the one who kissed him. It was after he had been poisoned by Nimueh, and I thought he was dead, so I just...showed him how I felt."

Arthur actually seemed to be heartened by this news. "So you only kissed him out of relief that he wasn't dead?"

An exasperated sigh escaped Gwen's lips, but a smirk was also present as well. "If it will make you feel any better: then yes, I kissed him out of relief."

Arthur nodded, satisfied with her answer. "Good to know," he mumbled.

A few seconds of silence passed before Gwen instructed, "Arthur, look at me," and Arthur dutifully obeyed. Gwen then placed her arms around his neck as she looked him straight in the eyes and said, "What's happened in the past is passed us now, but the future is still ours to make. Please don't make this relationship between us anymore complicated than it has to be. I love you, you love me; simple as that, right?"

Arthur could only nod, never ceasing to be amazed at the extraordinary intelligence and beauty that Gwen possessed. "I love you, you love me," he repeated, and Gwen gave a nod at his words.

"See? Easy. There's no reason for any jealousy from past...experiences to interfere with what we have now, alright?" Gwen continued to peer at Arthur with an arched brow, as though making sure he understood her point. In response, Arthur bent his head down to capture her lips with his own, showing her that he understood every word.

A few moments later Gwen broke away, looking nervously around them in case they were seen.

"It's fine, just relax," Arthur assured her. "No one saw us. And even if they did, it's not like my father would be able to care." His last sentence was said in a bitter tone, for his father had still not yet recovered from Morgana's betrayal. Gwen rubbed his arm comfortingly, and then let out a sigh saying, "Speaking of your father, I should go and check on him."

Arthur nodded. "Alright. Shall we meet up again tonight, perhaps?"

Gwen gave him a smile. "If that's what you wish." She began to walk away, but then suddenly stopped and turned to say, "Oh, and Arthur? Can you promise me something?"

"Of course, m'lady."

"Don't give Merlin a hard time because of this. I doubt he even remembers it actually, but if you could just not bring it up, I'd appreciate it."

Arthur doubted that anyone could forget one of Gwen's kisses, but for Merlin's case he hoped it was so. And as for the no berating Merlin matter... Arthur had actually been planning on doing just that before she mentioned it, but he figured it could be forsaken for Gwen's case. "Anything for you, my love," he finally responded, and after giving him a small smile she disappeared.

Arthur stood in the hall for a bit longer, thinking, before an idea occurred to him. Even though he had told Gwen he wouldn't let his jealousy come between their relationship, it didn't mean he couldn't take it out on the person who had started it in the first place.

Smiling to himself, Arthur left the hall and headed back to his room. He might not have been able to mention the whole issue to Merlin, but there were plenty of other ways he could get revenge on his servant without even speaking a word to him.

 _Oh yes_ , thought Arthur. _I have a plan._

And even though the issue in question was quite harmless, Merlin would have to pay.

«»

Later that afternoon, Gaius could only watch out the window as poor Merlin was sent to do task after task after task - all of them either extremely dull, dreadful, or laborious. Shaking his head, he went back to his own work, wondering how anyone could expect Merlin to complete all those numerous chores, and also what on _earth_ that boy had done this time to incur the wrath of Arthur Pendragon.


End file.
